Sri Lanka Air Force Strikes Tamil Rebel TargetsSri Lankan air force jets bombed separatist Tamil Tiger rebel bases in the north and east of the country for the past three days, a military spokesman said Sunday.Military spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said that positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels at Nagarkovil in the northern Jaffna peninsula were targeted on Thursday and Friday, and bases near Koonaitivu near Foul Point in Trincomalee district in the east came under aerial attack of the air force on Saturday. However, the casualties of the rebels could not be immediately confirmed. This is the third air raids launched by the air force after LTTE rebels attacked a main air base and the adjoining Bandaranaike International Airport last month. A total of 11 military and civilian aircraft were destroyed and three other air bases severely damaged. Fourteen rebels and seven military personnel were killed in the attack. Eight Air Force personnel were wounded in a claymore mine explosion on Saturday near Poovarasankulam in Vavuiya, the defense ministry said in a statement. They were on a truck carrying air force personnel to an air base when the mine was detonated by Tamil rebels. The LTTE rebels have been fighting against government forces since 1983 in the north and east of the country attempting to set up an independent Tamil homeland there. More than 64,000 people have died in the brutal ethnic war. |
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